IGNOU MNML 012 Practical for MAJDM: Digital Journalism Production Portfolio

IGNOU MNML 012 Practical in the MAJDM first year

The IGNOU MNML 012 Practical is Digital Journalism Practical, the only practical course in the first year of the MA Journalism and Digital Media (MAJDM) and in the PG Diploma in Digital Media (PGDIDM). It carries 8 credits, and from July 2026 it is assessed through one Production Portfolio of seven activities, handwritten and bound for Study Centre submission, or uploaded as one PDF on the LMS by online learners.

The same course code runs in the online versions, PGDIDMOL and MAJDMOL (MAJDMOL was launched for the January 2025 session). In MAJDM it sits beside eight theory courses of 4 credits each (MNM-011, MJM-021, MNM-003, MJM-023, MNM-013, MNM-014, MJM-025 and MNM-037), and the PGDIDM is issued to a MAJDM learner who completes that first year.

Across practical courses we see one pattern repeat: learners who clear theory papers without trouble stall on the practical. MNML-012 carries 8 of the 40 first-year credits, and the PGDIDM issued at the end of the MAJDM first year depends on it.

A common story at our desk: a learner is well into the session before noticing that the programme has a practical component. In the July 2026 prospectus, MNML 012 sits in the MAJDM first-year list straight after the eight theory papers.

At our desk, the records show 70 to 80 percent of learners starting work only in the final month before a submission date. MNML-012 has two last dates for submission of practical work a year, and its seven pieces include a recording of at least three minutes and eight dated posts on X.

The July 2026 manual replaced the portal route

For the IGNOU MNML 012 Practical, the document to follow is the MNML012 Practical Manual marked “Applicable from July 2026 onwards”. It says the course is now assessed entirely through a Production Portfolio and is no longer run through the web portal www.medialit.in/thevoices, so you do not have to publish anything on that portal or on any news website to pass. The MAJDM Programme Guide still describes the course as work on a news website through a content management system; that line describes the earlier route.

If you registered before July 2026 and already published MNML-012 work on medialit.in/thevoices, the manual lets you use it, provided it fits one of the seven activities and is presented as the manual prescribes: print each published story with its URL and date of publication and place it under the matching activity. Doubts about how earlier work counts go to the course coordinator at majdm@ignou.ac.in before you submit.

The MJML023 manual (Practical: Digital Media, for MAJMC and PGJMC) uses the same seven activities, so it is easy to mistake for the MNML-012 manual. The two documents differ on points that change your file:

• MJML023 lets you complete activities “in any combination”; the MNML-012 manual expects all seven and accepts no substitute work for an activity left out.
• MJML023 fixes the portal for the review as www.medialit.in/thevoices; MNML-012 lets you review any one news portal.
• MJML023 sets 30 June and 31 December as last dates; MNML-012 sets 30 April and 30 September.
• MNML-012 adds rules MJML023 does not print: own handwriting, page numbers, spiral or soft binding, two copies, QR codes for the video and the X profile, and a signed declaration that covers generative AI.
• MJML 023 is a 6-credit practical, one of three in the MAJMC first year from which learners choose two; MNML 012 is the single 8-credit practical of MAJDM.

Learners often arrive with three versions of the rules: the handbook, something a counsellor said and a senior’s old file. For MNML-012, the version that governs is the manual applicable from July 2026, and the programme guide’s content-management line belongs to the older route.

Advice from friends at another study centre frequently fails to match the learner’s own centre. The MNML-012 manual sends the portfolio to your own Study Centre and names the Regional Centre as the place to go when a problem comes up there.

Many learners believe they must pick a topic that the guidelines name. The MNML-012 manual prints no topic list for the story ideas or the full stories, and for Activity 7 it leaves the choice of news portal to you.

IGNOU MNML 012 Practical: seven activities, marks and word windows

The IGNOU MNML 012 Practical is marked activity by activity, each against its own ceiling, and the marks add up to 100. The manual also says the word counts in its table are minimums that you should not exceed by more than 10 percent, and that every written activity ends with its word count in brackets. The window column below applies that rule to each count.

Two marking rules sit beside the table. An activity you leave out is simply not marked, and nothing extra is accepted in its place. No single piece of work, or any part of it, is evaluated twice, so one story cannot be counted as both a full story and the backgrounder.

The written part of a practical file is where marks slip most, and it is also the part a learner can repair. In MNML-012 the three full stories alone carry 30 of the 100 marks.

Work that only reports what was done reads flat to an evaluator looking for the course behind it. The MNML-012 manual asks you to apply the theory courses: the 5 Ws and 1 H in each story idea, the inverted pyramid in each full story, a clear news angle and named sources.

Some reports we see run well past the length their guidelines allow, and they come back. MNML-012 sets its own ceiling above each minimum, so count the words of each story before you copy it out by hand.

YouTube, X and web links, printed so an evaluator can open them

Four MNML-012 activities produce material that lives online, while the IGNOU MNML 012 Practical portfolio is a physical file. The manual’s test is simple: work an evaluator cannot see or open is not marked.

• Activity 5, the video or audio story: upload it to your own YouTube account with your name, enrolment number and MNML012 in the description, set it to Public or Unlisted (not Private), and print the full URL, a QR code of that URL, the title, the duration and the upload date. Keep it online until your MNML012 result is declared; a dead link at evaluation earns no marks.
• Activity 6, the X posts: the account carries your enrolment number and is public at evaluation. Print eight screenshots, at least two to a page, each showing your handle, the date and the post, with one line beneath naming the activity (1 to 5) it relates to. The first page of the activity carries your X profile URL or a QR code of it.
• Activities 2 and 3, the links: number them at the end of the story, give the title of each source page and the date you accessed it, and print the full URL. Do not use a shortened link, and do not leave links as words that are only coloured and underlined, because a printed hyperlink cannot be clicked.
• Activity 4, the infographic: a full A4 page, in colour where colour carries meaning, with the data source and the access date printed directly below it.

Reference lists that ignore the format their guidelines set are a frequent fault in the files we see. For MNML-012 Activities 2 and 3 the format is fixed: numbered links, the source page title, the date you opened it and the complete URL in print.

Some learners build an analysis on figures they assumed rather than found, which is an integrity problem, not a formatting one. The MNML-012 infographic has to rest on publicly available data that you name, with your date of access printed under it.

Handwritten, page-numbered, bound, and made twice

The manual sets detailed physical rules for the IGNOU MNML 012 Practical. The portfolio is prepared in your own handwriting. Number every page at the bottom centre, starting with the first page after the cover, and write your enrolment number in the top right corner of every page. Get it spiral bound or soft bound; the manual says not to submit loose sheets or a plastic sleeve file with each sheet in a separate pocket.

One point in the manual needs reading closely. The body of the portfolio is handwritten, yet Annexure I (the cover page) and Annexure II (the declaration) each say “Type this page”. The infographic, the QR codes and the X screenshots are printouts by their nature. So the file mixes a typed cover and declaration, handwritten activities and printed pages for Activities 4, 5 and 6.

Some reports reach their study centre spiral bound when the course asked for something else. For MNML-012 the check takes a line: the manual asks for spiral or soft binding and says not to submit loose sheets or sleeve files.

Learners often ask how many copies to make and where each one goes. The MNML-012 answer is two bound copies: one is submitted, the other stays with you until the result is declared.

Hindi-medium learners often find technical English hard, and English-medium learners who switch to Hindi run short of terms. MNML-012 allows English or Hindi, but one language has to run through the whole portfolio, and the cover page records which one you chose.

Thirteen items in a fixed order

The manual sets the order of the MNML-012 file strictly, and places a separator sheet carrying only the activity number and title before each activity.

1. Cover page in the Annexure I format.
2. Declaration of originality in the Annexure II format, signed by you.
3. Award sheet in the Annexure III format, left blank for the evaluator.
4. Index listing the seven activities with their page numbers.
5. Photocopy of your IGNOU Identity Card.
6. Photocopy of the examination fee receipt for MNML012.
7. Activity 1, the five story ideas.
8. Activity 2, the three full story drafts.
9. Activity 3, the backgrounder.
10. Activity 4, the infographic.
11. Activity 5, the video or audio story page with URL and QR code.
12. Activity 6, the eight screenshots.
13. Activity 7, the review of a news portal.

Practical files usually follow a set sequence, and a missing part costs marks. The MNML-012 sequence opens with three annexures, moves to the index and two photocopies, and only then reaches the seven activities.

Page order is a question we hear often. The MNML-012 manual answers it with a numbered list from i to xiii, with a separator sheet carrying only the activity number and title before each activity.

Many files come back because a required document is missing. For MNML-012, a portfolio without the cover page, the declaration, the identity card copy or the fee receipt copy may be returned unevaluated, the manual says.

Own reporting, and what the AI declaration asks

Every piece in the MNML-012 portfolio must be your own, reported and written by you during your period of registration. Copying from a news website, from another learner or from any other source is malpractice; a portfolio where it is found is rejected and the matter is referred to the University under its rules. Material produced by someone else, such as a quotation, a photograph or a data set, is acknowledged at the point where it appears.

The manual is specific about generative AI: such tools may not be used to write your stories, your backgrounder or your review. If you used one at any stage, for any purpose, Annexure II has a line where you state what you used and what for. The same declaration confirms that the YouTube link and the X account belong to you and stay accessible until the result.

Ready-made practical files circulate online, and copies where only a name and an enrolment number differ stand out when several reach one centre. For MNML-012 the manual treats copying as malpractice that leads to rejection, and the declaration you sign puts that in writing.

Some learners hand in AI-written text exactly as the tool produced it. The MNML-012 manual does not permit generative AI to write the stories, the backgrounder or the review, and asks you to declare any use of such a tool.

Many learners paste text from websites and submit it without checking how much of it is someone else’s writing. In MNML-012 copying from a news website or any other source is malpractice, the manual says.

Passing the IGNOU MNML 012 Practical: 40 marks, no viva

For the IGNOU MNML 012 Practical you fill the term-end examination form like any other course, but the examination itself is the evaluation of your portfolio, out of 100. The pass line is 40 marks. If you score less, you prepare a fresh portfolio with new work for a later term-end examination cycle within your registration period; the same portfolio cannot be resubmitted, and marks are not carried forward.

Many learners are unsure whether a viva applies to them. For MNML-012 the manual leaves no doubt: the evaluation has no viva-voce component, and the portfolio carries the full 100 marks.

Wrong enrolment numbers and centre details on title pages are a familiar error. The MNML-012 cover page in Annexure I has twelve entries, among them the Study Centre name and code, the Regional Centre name and code, the examination session and the medium of the portfolio.

Practical marks often reach the grade card after theory marks, and a pending result can hold up a job offer or an admission. With MNML-012 that wait has a practical side: the manual asks you to keep the video online and the second copy safe until the result is declared.

30 April, 30 September and the Rs 500 fee

The IGNOU MNML 012 Practical has two last dates a year in the July 2026 manual: 30 April for the June term-end examination and 30 September for the December one. A portfolio that reaches the Study Centre after the last date is considered in the next examination cycle. With 30 September 2026 gone, the next date in that calendar is 30 April 2027, for June 2027. The manual also asks you to stay in touch with your Study Centre and Regional Centre for the latest information on these dates.

MNML 012 carries 8 credits, so the practical examination fee is Rs 500, the IGNOU slab for practicals above 4 credits, paid with the term-end examination form. The manual adds that the fee is valid only for the examination it was deposited for, and advises paying it only after checking your preparation. IGNOU’s prospectus says an examination fee once paid is neither refunded nor adjusted.

Many learners hold off, expecting the last date to be extended. The MNML-012 manual prints only 30 April and 30 September, and a late portfolio waits for the next cycle, so planning around an extension is a gamble on your own timetable.

Learners often mix up the Rs 300 and Rs 500 amounts. MNML 012 is an 8-credit practical, so it falls in the slab above 4 credits, which is Rs 500.

Without a receipt, a learner has no proof to offer if marks go missing. For MNML-012 only a photocopy of the fee receipt goes inside the file and the manual asks you to keep the second copy until the result, so keep the original receipt with that second copy.

Study Centre, Regional Centre or LMS?

Learners in the ODL programmes (PGDIDM and MAJDM) submit the IGNOU MNML 012 Practical portfolio to their Study Centre, and contact their Regional Centre if they face a problem there. Learners in the online programmes (PGDIDMOL and MAJDMOL) submit through the Learning Management System as a single PDF of not more than 25 MB, named EnrolmentNumber_MNML012 (the manual’s example is 2401234567_MNML012.pdf), with pages in the same order as the printed portfolio. Either way, keep a copy.

Learners are often unsure whether a file goes to the study centre, the Regional Centre or the University at Maidan Garhi. For MNML-012 in ODL mode the manual names the Study Centre, with the Regional Centre as the contact for problems at that centre.

Some learners email their work in place of the course route. The MNML-012 manual gives majdm@ignou.ac.in for questions about counting work done before July 2026, while the portfolio itself goes to the Study Centre or, for online learners, the LMS.

With online uploads we see half-finished files, several files where one was asked for, and wrong details on the first page. For MNML-012 on the LMS, the manual wants one PDF within 25 MB, named with your enrolment number and the course code, in the printed order.

Questions about practical marks that have not appeared go to practicalsed@ignou.ac.in, the contact the July 2026 prospectus gives for practical marks.

What students ask about MNML-012

Theory guides behind the IGNOU MNML 012 Practical

The IGNOU MNML 012 Practical draws on the MAJDM first-year theory courses, and these are the study guides we publish for them. The table pairs each activity with the theory course whose title is closest to it, for example Reporting Techniques (MJM-021) for the stories and Social Media and Society (MNM-037) for the X activity.

See the MAJDM study guides

Three causes stand out across practical courses: rules reach learners late and differ by centre, the work assumes time that a working learner does not easily have, and the file gets treated as formatting when it should show applied learning. MNML-012 tests that last point directly, since the manual asks you to apply the theory courses in your own reporting.

The learners who finish well start early, check the rules at their own study centre, keep dated work as they go and can explain each page in their own words. On MNML-012 the manual already asks for dated work: the date on each X post, the access date beside each link and the upload date of the video.

The IGNOU MNML 012 Practical is the one first-year course where the work itself is the examination, so the portfolio you hand in is yours from the first story idea to the last screenshot. For the second-year MNMP-012 project, our sister site’s customised project service page explains that course separately.

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shrichakradhar.com is an independent publisher and is not affiliated with, authorised by or endorsed by IGNOU. We publish study guides for the theory courses; we do not prepare MNML-012 portfolios or any part of them, and IGNOU’s evaluators decide all marks.